Shounen Tachiagaru
by Mariphasa Hecatene
Summary: Captain G.J. Sha needed a special weapon to help him defend the ancient mystery in the stone - but he had no idea the weapon would know more about it than he did...
1. Chapter 1

**Shounen Tachiagaru part 1**

**an alternate-future Saiyuki story that I don't know the ending** of

finished May 31, 2011 (5/31). I dreamed it; I don't know what happens next, but there's something about the way this one feels that I'm so happy with.

No sex, gore, violence; some cusswords; nothing more.

"Shounen tachiagaru" basically means "boy, come forth".

* * *

><p>In the dusty light of sunset, Field Captain G.J. Sha stood and gazed down at the contents of the crate from Tenkai Command.<p>

He was a tall, lean, suntanned figure in desert camo, with a scarred and weatherbeaten face that looked older than it was. He'd been in command of the 5th Western for three years, and every month of the past year had been worse than the one before. He'd been petitioning Command for months, telling them that the Nomad attacks increased in number and violence every week, that this outpost was the worst besieged on the Western Front, and that if any brigade ought to have a SAN unit it was his; and at last they'd listened. More than listened. This wasn't just a Special Anti-Nomad unit, the stencil on the crate made that clear: SAN-031. Holy shit. This was the state of the art, the last word in monster demolishing.

And on top of all that, the damn thing was beautiful.

Sha laid down his transblade, with which he'd cut open the shipping crate and many layers of packing foam and restraints, and surveyed his brigade's new weapon. It stood just short of two meters tall, with a lean, chiseled torso and wiry arms, its whipcord muscle and bone a seamless match for its cyborg machinery. Probably a monk, at least the human part: he remembered hearing that men who volunteered for the SAN program tended to be monastic and ascetic types, looking for an ultimate way to non-attach and transcend the flesh, or some such. Its only item of clothing bore that impression out, loose, grey-blue trousers of some light material. It had cheekbones you could carve with, a sharp chin and a determined mouth, and unexpectedly shaggy, golden-blond hair. Had it been human, it would definitely have gotten more than one look from Sha on a night of shore leave - not that he'd won one of those anytime lately. He grinned wryly and pushed back his red hair; he really did need a night off if even the artillery was starting to look good to him...

but he was still wondering what color its eyes would be when it - he - opened them. Blue? Maybe green? Well, the next step would tell him that.

He rummaged through the packing material and found the little box he needed, sealed, and neatly labeled. SAN-031 UNIT, DETAIL: 5th WEST, PATTERN REC: G.J. SHA CAPT. Pattern Rec? - he pressed his thumb into the seal lock, and a recorded voice began to speak in a clear, precise tone.

"Captain Sha, you are about to take command of the SANZero unit detailed to you, and will assume responsibility for its full tour of duty. To facilitate optimum operation of this highly sophisticated battle unit, pattern recognition is necessary. You must be standing directly before the SANZero when it is activated so that it may obtain your retina scan. Once it has verified the scan, it will be under your command and will obey your orders without hesitation. If you understand and accept, press the thumb pad again."

Without hesitation? - He looked at the beautiful killing machine again. He knew its specs: a personal Sutra Field unbreachable by any known force, a handgun capable of vaporizing Nomads on contact, using bullets that weren't mere ammo but something like crystallized force-of-will: the whole thing an unholy blend of science, magic and all-out mayhem. _Under your command, without hesitation_...

He grinned darkly and pressed the pad.

"Activating," said the device. "Please stand directly in front of the unit and open your eyes."

In the seconds it took, he wondered what to call it - him. SAN? SAN31? Nah...

The SAN's eyes opened: clear, icy ultraviolet: somehow, Sha wasn't surprised.

"Hi, SANZero. Welcome to 5th West Hell."

And he really _did_ need a break, yeah, because he swore there was an instant's recognition in the amethyst eyes.

"Captain Sha. As expected."


	2. Chapter 2

**Shounen Tachiagaru part 2**

**an alternate-future Saiyuki story that I don't know the ending of**

finished May 31, 2011 (5/31). I dreamed it; I don't know what happens next, but there's something about the way this one feels that I'm so happy with.

No sex, gore, violence; some cusswords; nothing more.

"Shounen tachiagaru" basically means "boy, come forth".

* * *

><p>"Captain Sha, as expected." The SAN unit inclined its head the slightest fraction. "You have a briefing for me?"<p>

Slightly nonplussed at the device's directness, Sha tapped up a holomap. SAN-031 brushed aside some last packing bits, stepped out of its crate and came to his side. It gave off a subsonic hum of power he could feel in his bones, a silent, arcane radiance that wasn't just its operating source. _Monks,_ he thought, _science and magic..._

" - Right. We've been under siege here for weeks. " The map sprouted dated and labeled rings, showing the recent patterns of attack. "The Nomads - six different ranks by our tally - hit us in waves, usually late at night, looking for any weak spot in our defense. Haven't sprung a leak yet, but we're taking a pounding."

The weapon studied the map with cool, focused interest. "Strictly material attacks?"

"No, no, they've tried all kinds of shit - scare tactics, illusions, dream invasion, qi-gong waves and kekkai, you name it." Sha rubbed the tight spot between his eyes; it was a long time since he'd slept soundly. Through the plexisteel window of his field tent he could see the darkening sky, another long night bearing down. "Tell the truth, that's why I asked for you. First to third-rank youkai, rank-and-file infantry, those we can handle; but these guys pack some wicked mojo, high-level spirit stuff. We can't hold them off much longer."

The SAN unit nodded crisply and collected something out of the crate.. "Understood. I'll be at my post in one-quarter hour."

"Great. I'm stationing you - "

But it had already walked out. _Huh. Guess "obey you without hesitation" really means "if it doesn't make up its own mind first". But this is a SANZero..._

Anyway, enough of that. Time to throw down some food and go on duty himself; the Nomads would hit any time now. For the first time in weeks, though, that thought didn't fill him with exhausted dread. Maybe this night would be different.

* * *

><p>"I'd like to hear your impression of the SAN unit, " said Lieutenant Cho, over a quick platter of microwaved rations. "I assume you had some sort of conversation with it."<p>

"I did. It's got a hell of an attitude for a cyborg." Sha regretfully finished off his half of the bottle of beer Cho'd brought; a whole bottle to yourself was too extravagant even for officers. But his friend always shared, thank gods. "Y'know, you hear weird things about the SANZeroes, how they're made - "

"They sent a Zero?" Green eyes widened in impressed surprise. Cho was slim, not quite Sha's height, and with his glasses and precise speech you could easily take him for a scholarly type, way out of his league on the field of war - if you didn't spot the hungry gleam in his eye. He'd be most curious to know exactly how many half-inch strips a SANZero could rip a Nomad into, Sha guessed, and wouldn't mind watching it close up either.

" - Yeah. And I can believe it, all that about monasteries and special training. What runs that thing isn't just batteries." He polished off his tray. "I can hardly wait to see it fight."

"Coming from you, that's quite an assessment," remarked Cho, "you are the least inclined to spiritual notions of anyone I know."

"And _you're_ the only guy_ I_ know who can still quote the Good Book."

"Ah. Childhood experience, I'm afraid." Cho smiled. " I hope I don't become tiresome."

"Nah. I kind of like it, actually. " _Even though from you it's a little creepy._ " Keeps me from forgetting the past, y'know?"

The lieutenant meticulously chopsticked his last few grains of rice. "They say some join the frontier service to remember and some join it to forget. I suppose we're one of each sort." He finished the beer and gathered up his tray. " But I'm glad I asked you about our new guest. I'm even more curious now."

"We'll know a lot more soon," Sha stuffed his tray into the recycling chute. "Just about showtime."

* * *

><p>For the first three hours of the night the fire was sporadic, footsoldiers and gunnery, and a regular scan of the periphery screens showed the same on all fronts. Sha sat on his airbike at the head of his second-wave troop, keeping tabs on the battle. 5th Western was laid out like every other defense post on the frontier of the Youkai Empire, a six-sided figure, and his command link gave him immediate feedback from all sextants of it - plus, of course, constant monitoring of the thing they defended. That was scanned nonstop, 247/365. (_Not that anyone's got a clue what to do if it ever opens, or shivers, or does_ _anything,_ the captain thought, _least of all me; but at least we'll be the first to know_.)

In the fourth hour, right on cue, the weirdness started. A battle line of three-eyed things charged out of the darkness, shrieking and spitting venom, followed by two ranks of heavy-duty demon cavalry armed with clubs and swords, riding enormous cats. _Off we go._ Sha gunned his bike and was soon embroiled in a duel with the big bruiser in command, its mangy mount ripping at his airbike with ragged claws while he blazed away at the ogre. A bolt finally got through its head armor and dropped it, and he got altitude and looked for a new target, knowing this was just the opening salvo.

The cat riders were joined by a tank unit of giant spiders, and the 5th Western was fully engaged and firing on all fronts when the sky suddenly blazed with poison-green light. Sha took out his target and got manual scan on the sky, just registered a figure floating steadily down, human-sized, holding out its hands -

- he was nearly thrown to the ground by a jolt of agony like a thunderclap migraine, barely kept control of the airbike and his stomach at once. Whatever the Nomad mage was throwing was pure disorientation, and his screens sizzled and flared while showing him troops zigging and veering wildly -

- and then there it was: the SAN unit. It was snow-white now, having regrown the organic armor - the Zeroes' trademark - that flowed around it in waves and veils of radiance. Choking for air, Sha hit the zoom scan: he didn't have audio at this distance, but 031 was speaking, something with a rhythm and cadence that made his spine shiver in unconscious understanding. Then it threw out its hands and with a flare of solar brilliance the Sutra Field shot out like sheet lightning, enveloping the youkai mage. There was unimaginable light, and then nothing.

The Nomads panicked. The cat riders lost control of their terrified beasts, which yowled and careened off at top speed, the spiders overtaking them in a thundering scuttle. By the time the Nomad mage's ashes had settled to the ground the SAN unit was in full possession of the battlefield.

Sha stared, the bike hovering on autopilot and the retina burn slowly fading, shaken by an impossible certainty._ I've seen this before, been here before. I_ _can't have, but -_

"Well," said Lieutenant Cho's voice in his headset, "you were definitely not exaggerating." Hs voice was uncharacteristically strained and sounded as dizzy as Sha felt.

Sha could not take his eyes off the white figure as it walked back toward the command post. "Definitely the _hell_ not."

* * *

><p>The SAN unit strode into camp in a swirl of white, passed Lieutenant Cho as if he were dust and walked straight up to Sha, eyes like artillery lasers.<p>

"I have a question," it said, in a tone that added _and you had damn well better be able to answer it_. "What is this base protecting?"

Sha jerked a thumb at the thing: the mystery: the red sandstone obelisk, carved head to foot in Sanskrit, sealed with a surface of fused glass that had no seam even micrometers could find. "That."

The golden eyebrows went up.

"Don't ask me what it is. It's a weapon, or something, but it reads organic. Power levels off the scale, sealed tight for hundreds of years. Doomsday in a damn bottle. The Nomads want it, the Youkai Empire wants it, and we can't let 'em get it; but no one knows what it is, or even its name."

The SAN unit closed its eyes. A beat, two.

"_I_ know its name."

Sha felt his jaw drop. Even Cho caught his breath.

"You _what?"_

"I know its name. It's the reason our temple still exists, the thing the Zero Units were made to seek." It was looking at him again, at him and Cho both now, its clear eyes not ultraviolet ice but something deeper, older, far older. "And if I call it, it will come out. "

Something very strange was happening, something was spiraling around them.

"And - if you do?"

Cho gave the answer.

"We'll be together again." He sighed, but he was smiling. "I knew it was futile to hope I'd be allowed to forget."

"I can't do it without your order," said SAN-031, still looking at Sha. "Pattern recognition."

"You'll be glad you didn't forget," Sha told his lieutenant. "I know I am."

He turned back to the beautiful weapon.

"Call him, SANZero." He didn't even ask himself how he knew it was a him. "Call him, and we'll kick these demons' butts back to hell."

"My," said Cho, "you really _do_ remember."

SAN-031 was already chanting, and the red obelisk was glowing and shuddering, the whole camp full of running and shouting soldiers, weapons trained on the gleaming, cracking stone -

It crumbled like a sandcastle, and a figure leaped out of it, a streak of tiger stripes and gold.

"_Talitha cumi_," said Cho, very softly.

"Sir!" a soldier pulled frantically on Sha's arm. "Your orders, sir!"

"-Bring food. All we've got. We're gonna need it."

"Sir?"

"Maybe this base will shut down. Maybe the war is over, or maybe it just got worse. But tonight " Sha watched the blazing figure arc down from its leap to meet SAN-031. "Tonight's gonna be a hell of a party."

* * *

><p>(And in the thorn-spiked castle of the Youkai King: "<em><strong>Impossible!<strong>_")

(And by the side of the lotus pool in Tenkai Command, a feline sigh of satisfaction: "Well, _finally._")


End file.
